I rolled my body through the dead leaves. Hearing a scoff of breath, I flipped on my side and looked up at James, who had come out of the brush, shifted forms. I let my tongue flop out of my mouth. James shook his wolf head. He trotted up to me and tapped me with his nose. I turned my body back onto my stomach. Brandon leapt out of the bushes, half landing on James' back. The two started tumbling around in the leaves, starting a play fight. I rested my head on my front two paws, watching them. The fight ended with James pinning Brandon down with his paws. James looked at me, raising his head in pride. I stood, shaking my head sarcastically in the awkward way a werewolf does. James stepped off Brandon, not before kicking some leaves onto him. I let out a woof sound, both boys looking at me. I mentally smiled at the two of them staring at me, both confused as to why I drew their attention.
Without warning, I took off into the trees. It took the two a few seconds to comprehend what happened before they started chasing after me. The three of us crashed through the underbrush, the moon our only source of light. The woods here were nothing compared to the ones back home, but we made it our own. Glancing back at the pair behind me, I noticed that they were flanking meaning a wide space was left behind me. I stopped, digging my nails into the dirt. My friends flew past me. The human in me laughed at the two finally stopping and their heads whipping around, searching for me. When they finally noticed I had stopped, the two faced me. I dropped to my front paws and took of in a new direction. The scrapping of their claws against the ground sounded as they ran towards me.
Rounding closer towards the spot where we kept our clothes, I deeply inhaled, preparing myself to make one more jolted turn to confuse my friends. My body unwillingly halted, the unsuspecting scent making me freeze. James stopped beside me and with just one look, I knew he smelt it as well. Brandon appeared too but continued to trot past us. In the corner of my eye, I saw his body stop, picking up the scent. Brandon looked back at James and I with an alerted expression in his eyes. We were smelling a mix of werewolves, none were recognizable. Tentatively stepping forward, I followed the scents.
Weaving through the trees, I knew we were being led towards our house. Brandon followed me but stopped when James made a loud huffing sound through his nose. Glancing back at him, it was obvious he thought it was a bad idea. I ignored him. I distinguished three different wolves. It was an even fight.
Getting closer to our house, James appeared at my side. Glancing at him, James kept walking forward without facing me. I mentally smiled. He was trying to be stubborn about the fact I ignored him, but James wouldn't let me face potential danger alone.
We stopped within forty feet of the woods' edge. The odors continued all the way to the back fence. Looking up at the lit windows, it felt like a rock dropped into my stomach. This felt very vulnerable. James knocked the side of my neck with his nose. I understood that he wanted us to change back.
Our clothes seemed to be the spot where the Strays purposefully left their scents the strongest. I imagined the werewolves' ways marked the area so strongly as I put myself in a comfortable position to start phasing back. Taking a deep breath, my jaw tightened from the scents invading my nose. It bothered me that strangers stood so close to my things. With the stress of unknown Strays walking through our woods, it was hard for me to change back to a human. There was even a moment where I was afraid that I was stuck, my limbs taking much longer than normal to shift back and my hair to shrink to normal length. It was more painful than normal.
I didn't give myself the few minutes I needed afterwards to slow my heartbeat, throwing my clothes on, and stumbled out of my privacy space. James was waiting, and Brandon came from behind a tree a few minutes later, yanking up his pants.
"We need to go home," I stated. Neither answered as we ran back to the house.
Entering the gate, the multiple wolves' scents stopped. They never entered our backyard. Even with that knowledge, I took a deep breath at the back door. Nothing. The door was unlocked like we left it but that didn't help reassure me.
"Go check the front door?" I asked James. He nodded and disappeared. I looked at Brandon, "can you go check the upstairs windows. I know they probably didn't go inside but I need to get rid of this feeling."
As Brandon left, James jogged back into the backyard.
"Front door is scent free. They never past the back fence," he updated me, as we went up to the second floor. Brandon walked out of my bedroom at the back room of the house.
"Everything seems to be in order. No one came into the house."
"Are the girls still asleep?" I asked.
Brandon nodded, "I was quiet as a mouse."
I grabbed James' wrist and looked at his watch, "it's late and I don't want to wake everyone up if they didn't come inside. I can call my dad in the morning."
"Is that a good idea? To wait I mean," James folded his arms across his chest.
"It's going to be fine to wait until tomorrow," a yawn forced its way out of my mouth, "I want to go to bed anyways. That wave of stress exhausted me."
As I started taking my shirt off in my room, I glanced at the window where my curtain sat slightly opened. I felt a moment of discomfort at the idea of unknown wolves being in the woods just below my room. I pushed the curtain open far enough for me to see outside. With my lights low, I stood and let my eyes scan across the trees. I couldn't see any movement, though the knot in my stomach didn't change.
Walking down the stairs, I rolled my neck, enjoying the cracking sounds. Sleep wasn't my friend last night, no matter how exhausted I was. Images of mysterious wolves flashed through my brain, as did memories of their scents.
"Good morning," Chloe said, placing a plate of waffles down on the kitchen table.
"Why are you awake? It's seven o'clock in the morning."
Chloe sat down, "says you. Anyways, I had a weird dream about wolves. At one point I thought I saw the back of our house, but I'm not too sure. There was a film over my vision."
I sat across the table from her, "funny you should say that. Last night on our run, we literally ran through a wave of unfamiliar werewolf scents, there'd been at least three of them. When we followed, it came right up to the back fence."
Chloe leaned back in her chair, "that makes more sense than what I was thinking," she took a drink from her glass of milk, "what are you going to do about it?"
"I've got to call my dad and tell him about it. Non-Pack werewolves aren't supposed to be in Ontario. It's unexpected."
"You forgot to mention the part that it's severely suspicious an unknown number of werewolves walked outside of our house. Which is why you should've already called Charlie," James said, entering the kitchen. He grabbed a waffle off the pile as he walked past to the fridge.
"I'll call him right now," I said with an eyeroll.
I walked into the kitchen and hoping up on the counter. Pulling out my phone, I dialed my father's number. James took my phone and turned on the speaker.
"What do you need this morning?" Charlie asked. I smirked at how groggy he sounded. I explained the events that transpired the night before. James occasionally opened his mouth to add commentary, but I held my finger up.
"Did any of the scents match up with the one from the bar the other day?" I made a face at James. I hadn't thought about that.
"Ashlyn?"
James cleared his throat, "I think one of the scents matched. I didn't really think about it but thinking about it now, it's triggering something."
"I'd have to agree," I added, "now that I think about it."
"It's a problem, Strays not following the rules. This is a bigger issue than we first thought, if it has any correlation with the photographs we received over the summer," Charlie said, "I'm going to need you to come home for reading week."
"I was planning on coming home. We spoke about it last week."
"I know, but I'd like you to come home tomorrow instead of delaying it to the weekend. All three of you."
Brandon came into the kitchen with his shirt half on, Scarlett behind him, her hair in a bird's nest sitting on the top of her head.
"What are you guys talking about?" Brandon's voice was still thick with sleep.
"My dad wants us to come back to Talia Grove tomorrow," I told him.
Brandon took the milk carton out of the fridge, and then a large drink straight from it. Scarlett snatched the carton from his hands, spilling some milk on Brandon's shirt, giving him a disgusted look.
"How are we going to get there? Isn't your car still in the shop?" Brandon asked, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.
I groaned, "that's right. I guess we're taking the train home."
"Good, "I'll see you tomorrow," Charlie's voice came through the phone.
Charlie hung up and I looked at the others.
"Chloe, come in here for a minute."
"No, you four come here. I made a bunch of waffles, and they are sitting here while you discuss things that can be done while you fill your stomachs," her voice rose from the other side of the counter.
"Yes, mother," Brandon said, rolling his eyes.
We all walked to the table like dogs with our tails between our legs. I waited until all the plates were filled with waffles and syrup before I started talking.
"What are you two doing for reading week? I don't want you two here alone before we figure out what's going on," I said to Chloe and Scarlett.
"I was planning on going home," Scarlett told me, shrugging.
"I'm going to stay here and catch up on some studying. I have an exam the Monday class starts back up," Chloe explained. I started shaking my head before she was finished, indicating it would not be a good idea.
"You can come home with me. I'll help you study, and my parents won't mind," Scarlett said. Chloe nodded and put her head on Scarlett's shoulder.
"Okay. I want you two to get a drive tomorrow from James or Brandon in the morning to the train station. Just in case someone is waiting or watching," I instructed.
"We can take my car instead and drive," Chloe said, looking to Scarlett then me. I just nodded my head.
"That's a better idea."
My head rested against the wall of the train compartment. The ride back to the Pack's property was almost two hours long and I'd already used the first part of it for a nap. My body was still tired from the uninvited guests last night. The city of Toronto passed by, and as always, I was glad that Union station would mean an empty train. Over the shoulders of the people sitting in front of me, I was able to slightly make eye contact with Brandon. He sat a few rows away and James was in the group of seats beside me. Pack's logic was to sit in vantage positions around the entire compartment, meaning we never sat together. I suggested we all sit together on this trip, but James insisted that we follow the unspoken rule. Truthfully, I think he didn't want to deal with the mindless chatter that came with a train ride. I glanced across the aisle and smirked. James's head was leaning against the window, with one headphone stuck in his ear. With his eyes closed, James appeared to be sleeping. I knew better.
My ears twitched as a familiar ringtone sounded. Brandon pulled his phone from his sweater pocket as the woman next to him glared. I couldn't eavesdrop on the conversation with all the people talking around us, so I looked back out the window.
A few moments later, my phone buzzed in my jean pocket.
'Get off at Union. Charlie wants us at the apartment. Kurtis will be waiting on Front & Bay.'
I sighed with frustration. I wanted to get back to the house, get in bed and sleep for a week. I rolled my head against the wall to look at James. He was already looking my way, silently laughing. I had said as much before we left.
The train's speaker system announced we were arriving at Union and collectively, everyone stood up. James stepped across the aisle and took my small suitcase from me. My Prince Charming, I thought sarcastically.
James led me and Brandon off the platform. At a snail's pace, we tried to get down the stairs leading into the station. My head began to pound from limitless overwhelming scents of the train station.
Walking out of the station, I saw my car sitting at the curb. It wasn't hard to miss. My blue Dodge was the only car waiting illegally. As we walked up, the trunk popped open for us to toss our bags into. I wanted to sit in the front seat, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. I glared at James as he slid into the spot. Moments like this, I felt jealous of his height.
"Text Charlie that I've got you," Kurtis Carr said, his hair slicked back with a baseball cap. Brandon did as his older Pack brother said, typing out the message.
"Why did my father request we get off the train?" I asked, scrolling mindlessly through social media apps.
"We're getting a visitor. Your brothers are at your apartment." Kurtis said, keeping his answer short.
The apartment was under my older brother Tyler's name. Drew and I would be added on our twenty first birthday. We often used the apartment for work in the city. The building sat in a populated Abilities area. Driving into the underground parking, we were made to stop a few times and enter passwords. The neighbourhood was high end, but my father made sure very few people knew the Alpha's children were living in it. The building was full of security.
Leaning on a post in the underground parking lot was my twin, Drew. Leaving our bags in the car, I gave him a short hug and, on the elevator ride up to our penthouse apartment, we caught up on each other's lives. Drew was wearing dress pants and a button-down shirt. Drew lived off campus in Peterborough, attending Trent University. We didn't see each other often. I was surprised Drew had left Peterborough for a meeting. He had become attached to the town since starting university.
Exiting the elevator at the top floor, Drew typed in the key password at the apartment's front door. Walking in, I was met with more Pack members. Charlie sat at the kitchen table, typing on his laptop. Tyler lay across the couch, too long to fit on the furniture piece properly. My elder brother's attention was on the television. When the front door shut, my godfather's head of dark red hair popped out of the fridge. Hopping off the couch, Tyler wrapped me in a bear hug.
At the age of twenty-two, Tyler had finished environmental studies at the University of Toronto. Due to our father's insistence, Tyler lived at home and helped Charlie run the Pack. Tyler was leading the task of connecting werewolves with humans and Abilities alike. It was a project that he and I had started as teenagers, but school had stifled my ability to put in time.
Giving Tyler a loving shove, I gave Aaron a quick hug. My father hadn't made any indication he knew we were here, I kissed him on the head before sitting across the table. Crossing my arms, I waited. When Charlie was finished typing, he shut is laptop slightly.
"Scott is on his way back from the hotel with a member of the U.K. Pack. He's been visiting Canada for about a week. The Alpha over there asked me to update him on the photos we received in the summer."
When the photographs of Bill's and Michael's bodies arrived on our doorstep, most of the Pack wanted to retaliate immediately. Emotions were running high. Charlie decided we were to wait and see if the murderer's purpose would be revealed. It was infuriating for everyone, but we knew he was right. The killer was unknown and assuming it was a Stray, a lot of them didn't trust the Pack enough to share information they knew. When school had started again in September, a contact of ours told us about rumours that the suspicious human deaths that were showing up across the country had been done by the same perpetrator. The claw marks across the corpse's chest showed as much. Police didn't connect them. The marks were chalked up to animals scavenging after the death. To us, it showed that a werewolf was killing more than just their own kind and we had no idea who it was.
My brothers joined us around the table while Aaron, James, Kurtis, and Brandon sat at the kitchen island. They listened quietly as if they'd never heard the information before though most of them had already been debriefed.
The buzzer sounded from the front door of the building. Scott had a spare key, but I knew it was to notify us they were on their way up.
James and Brandon got off the counter, moving closer to me. Like during our run they flanked me, covering my back. As they moved, Charlie took his laptop into the office we kept and shut the door. James sat down in the chair that my father had occupied. Charlie would wait in the office, listening until Tyle and I got to check the stranger out and considered him not to be a threat. Kurtis leaned against the doorframe of the office. From the front door, he blocked the door's windows. My brothers sat on the top of the couch. It was obvious we were arranged, but there was a purpose. Even though this man was a member of the U.K. Pack, we really didn't know him. Protecting the Alpha and each other was the priority.
A brisk knock sounded on the door. Tyler nodded to Aaron to unlock the door. Scott entered the apartment first, his hulking frame filling the door. I was unable to see the person with him. Scott looked around the room at us. Upon seeing me, a toothy grin broke out on his face. With a few long strides, Scott gave me a sloppy kiss on the forehead. The shining black eye he had under the mop of hair on his head stuck out. I wish I could say it was a surprise.
Moving out of the way, Scott revealed a young man with lightly curled brown hair. He may have only been Tyler's age, maybe a year or two older. With one glance I knew he had a werewolf's body but looked nothing what I had expected.
"Everyone, this is Robb Holton, the Brit visiting us," Scott said pointing to each of us, "Robb, quick introduction. Aaron, Kurtis, Tyler, Drew, Brandon, Ashlyn, and James."
Robb nodded his head to us. His discomfort was obvious, his eyes travelling around the room absorbing every advantage point he could. He was the odd man out, with no one he trusted covering his back.
I was nudged by the silence to keep this meeting going. With every set of eyes on me, I stood in front of the new werewolf. Most male werewolves I had met over my lifetime assumed I was weaker than them, being a female. It was as if the knowledge I could fight them equally didn't stick in their brains even if they had seen the proof. I raised my hand, waiting. A look of surprise crossed the man's face at the human gesture, but he connected our hands. A tight and short handshake. His eyes showed the fear he felt but were honest too.
"Ashlyn Flanagan. Thank you for coming," I said. Footsteps thudded against the tile beside me.
"Tyler Flanagan, Charlie's oldest," he said confidently, "I'm hoping your flight went smoothly."
I took a few steps back as Tyler and Robb passed a few pleasantries back and forth. As casually as I could, I looked towards the office. Kurtis took a step forward to give me a better look.
My father sat in my desk chair, leaning as far back as he could. His hands connected in front of his face, elbows resting on the arm rails. He appeared to be completely engrossed in whatever was on the screen in front of him, but I knew Charlie was listening to the conversation out here. After feeling my gaze on him for a moment, his eyes met mine. I gave a small nod before turning back to the conversation in front of me.
This was the reason the apartment was being used. If we didn't approve of Robb, we'd give some excuse to send him away. Charlie didn't want to show people the Pack's property unless it was necessary. Robb had been given approval by everyone in the room. My father would come out and welcome him.
As Robb lose the tension in his shoulders, I glanced back at Brandon. He looked at me and I gave him a face including wide eyes. He nodded, understanding. Brandon made friends easily, his personality put people at ease. It was good to have him around. Brandon naturally slipped into the conversation.
Minutes went by before Charlie decided to make an appearance. My father, all six foot five inches of him came through the door. Scott moved to the side, letting my father through.
"Robb, nice to meet you. Charlie Flanagan," my father stuck his hand out.
Robb smiled politely, shaking his hand. I could see he was trying to keep from shrinking back. My father appeared to be a terrifying man when first approached. I had grown up seeing the fear in people's eyes, even human men who were just as tall as him or had larger muscles. My dad had never been good at hiding the intimidating factor about him. Police officers often took a second glance at him when we were in big cities, thinking he gave off a suspicious tone.
Robb would soon find out though that Charlie's severity was only skin deep. The two spoke for a minute and it was obvious that Robb's comfort wasn't extending to Charlie. Time for me to play the soft-spoken daughter. I stepped up beside my father, placing my hand on his arm.
"Why don't we take this conversation to the table?" I turned to the others, "Scott, why don't you get us some pizzas from down the road with Brandon? Something to eat in the car."
I flashed them a smile that copied my mother's, our "kind customer smile" as Tyler called it. I knew it would convince them to do it.
"Please, Robb. Come sit down."
My father led the way, putting himself in the same chair as before. It was his unofficial spot. It had a view of the front door, the entire apartment, the windows. He could see everything. I sat beside him with my back to the kitchen, and Aaron sat beside me. Leaving the only spot available, Robb's back to the windows and the most open space. Kurtis sat on my reading chair, angled between my father and Robb. Kurtis was often times my father's "bodyguard", though neither of them liked that word. James sat behind me on a bar stool with Tyler beside him. Drew kept himself in the kitchen, a beer now in his hands.
"Drew, really? Mum taught you more manners than that," Tyler commented to our brother. Drew rolled his eyes and looked at Robb.
"You want anything? Water, beer, pop?" he asked, lazily.
I let out a laugh and looked at Robb, "guess I should have offered since it's partially my apartment too. If you want anything go right ahead, we keep this place well stocked."
Robb gave me a small smile, "I'll take a water bottle please."
I looked over my shoulder at Drew, "make that two."
He tossed one over to Robb and then leaned against the counter, "like you said, it's your apartment too." Drew had a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Andrew," Charlie said. His full name was all it took for my twin to sigh, grab a bottle from the fridge and chuck it at my head. I caught it and flipped him off. He smirked at me and hopped up on the counter. James leaned back and smacked Drew on the head.
"Be nice to your sister," he said, tauntingly.
"Oh, fuck off. Just because you're in love with my sister and want to bone her, doesn't mean you have to take her side every time. Bros before hoes," Drew said, taking a swig of his beer.
"Andrew!" My father said again, with more of a snap in his voice. I spun and threw my unopened water bottle at my brother's head. The impact of the plastic hitting his skull caused the bottle to explode, drenching him. Drew and I were shocked. He hadn't expected my reaction and I hadn't realized the bottle was going to explode. His jaw dropped as water dripped off his head. Everyone in the room burst into laughter, including my father as he tried to keep himself contained.
"Say it again," I growled at him, gripping the back of my chair. I was ready to launch myself at my twin. He made stupid comments often but sometimes he had no control of himself, especially at moments where he should try to.
Charlie cleared his throat, "Ashlyn, back down. Drew, go dry off."
My brother got off the counter and walked past me. I knew he was tempted to hit me on the head but after getting into trouble from my dad, he wasn't in a position to push it. He just flipped me off as he headed for the stairs.
"I apologize for that," my father said to Robb, "now, where were we?"